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A “Freak” Storm Hit Metro Manila
President Noynoy Aquino lambasted officials of the Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) for failing to estimate the strength and forecast the track of Typhoon Basyang (Conson) accurately.
And for that, it battered Metro Manila (from late night of July 13 through the early hours of July 14) far worse than what could be expected from a storm alert signal of 30 to 60 kilometers-per-hour winds, earlier released by the national weather bureau. The PAGASA did not mention that Metro Manila would experience strong winds due to Basyang's wide radius of 300 kilometers.
The result – most of Manila suffered blackouts starting at around midnight. Uprooted trees, electric posts and makeshift roofs, among others, blocked several roads.
"Basyang was no less than a 'freak' storm. There's something phenomenal about it that the PAGASA or any science may not fully explain" chided Nestor Labayan, a man in his 50's who swore he never had an experience like this before. "The storm came so sudden with brute force, knocking-off trees and ripping-off roofs. There is a little time to prepare even had PAGASA warned us accordingly" he added.
Crispin Golez, a jeepney driver from Imus, Cavite had a similar observation. He said, "everything was fine from 8pm to 10pm. There were no telltale signs of an impending storm coming like we would normally experience. Every year we have typhoons but after Tropical Storm Ondoy, bad weather is no longer the same as we used to have it."
Dr. Jerry Que was attending a birthday reception, unsuspecting of any storm coming. He recounted, "except for some isolated rains, the weather was calm when I arrived at the reception around 8:30pm of July 13. At about 10:30pm, I could see the lamp posts shaking from the restaurant's wide windows. All guests were as surprised as I was. If I only knew, I should have stayed home."
